Hikaru Nagisa Kakeyou!
by Jounetsu-no-Hana
Summary: YuRiPa and the gang are on summer break. So what's a group of friends who can't sit still to do? Go on a roadtrip, of course!
1. Spin The Bottle

**I needed to write this, it's been nagging me. This is FFX-2 people on EARTH! And they're going on a road trip! I love road trips! There's gonna be karaoke, teenageyness (ages range from 15 to 20 ish), and some Rippal-y goodness!**

Rikku and Yuna lay on their backs staring at the ceiling, watching the fan go round and round.

"Yunie, we're only a _week_ into summer and I'm bored," she stated. Yuna nodded weakly. Rikku rolled over and went to her laptop. "Let's see who's on." Rikku signed onto her instant messaging and saw almost all her friends were online. She made a chat room and invited them all, then drummed her fingers impatiently on the floor. Most responded immediately. Yuna was making shadow puppets on the wall in the high afternoon sun.

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Hey all!

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **Heeeey Rikku. ;D

**xXDisasterifficBabeXx:**_ -.- _Hey Gippal…

**1000xWordz:** Hi there!

**ShuBlitzYin:** Yo…

**ZanarkandAbes:** Hiya.

**YevonRulez**: Hello.

**DocterP**: …

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx**: Okay! Everyone here? Good! Now come over here! We're going on a road trip! Except Gippal, he's not invited.

**TheSEXYAlBhed:** Hey!

**ZanarkandAbes:** Sounds fun! Be there soon.

_ZanarkandAbes has left the chat_

**TheSEXYAlBhed**: I'm gonna get you Rikku!

_TheSEXYAlBhed has left the chat_

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx:** Cred! Uh, if you're coming, just come whenever you're ready. We'll leave tomorrow!

**YevonRulez:** What about our parents? Shouldn't we tell them?

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx:** … Okay, Lai's not coming.

**YevonRulez:** All right, never mind!

_YevonRulez has left the chat_

**1000xWordz:** Be there in two shimmies! Is Yuna coming?

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx**: Yup! Over and out!

_xXDisasterrificBabeXx has left the chat_

_1000xWords has left the chat_

_ShuBlitzYin has left the chat_

**DocterP:** …Hi Paine, how ya doin?

_DocterP has left the chat_

The doorbell rang in a matter of minutes and Rikku opened it excitedly. Yuna was still agitated at the fact that Rikku planned a month long trip in a few minutes all by herself. Rikku pulled open the door and suddenly found herself on her back with Gippal on top of her. Her head spun from the impact with the floor.

"Not invited, huh?" he said accusingly, though he was grinning.

"Gerrof me!" she snapped back, struggling against him. "Fatso!" she said, unable to get herself out from underneath him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Gippal said, getting up and pulling a duffel bag into the room and lounging on the couch.

"Other people are coming, y'know!" she said. He just shrugged and tossed his duffel bag to the other couch. Rikku picked it up to put it on the ground and nearly dropped it. "What the hell do you have in here?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow at her. She only raised _her_ eyebrow at him and waited.

"We're going around the country right? Well, we most _definitely_ will be meeting some sexy ladies on the way," he stated coolly.

"_What_?" Rikku said, unzipping the bag and looking inside. "I'm just going to have to confiscate that, mister!" she said with her face halfway in the bag.

"_Those_," he corrected with a grin. She took her face out of his bag and sneered at him, rezipping the bag and stomping away to the kitchen. She got back and threw a bag of chips at Gippal, then turned to Yuna.

"Relax Yunie! I've got a car, you've got a car, we'll put different people in the car and we'll drive around to states of our choice!" she said. Yuna didn't look any happier. Yuna's cell phone beeped and she looked down, pulling it out.

"Text from Paine!" she said, opening the message.

**How many ppl r comin? **It said. Yuna counted off on her fingers. _Me, Rikku, Paine, Tidus, Gippal, Baralai, Lenne, Shuyin…eight._

_Eight. YRP, GB, LS, and T._

**Oh yay. Cramped cars.**

_Lol_

Yuna snapped her cell phone closed and looked as Rikku and Gippal continued to argue about an unknown topic now. She shook her head and rushed to the door as the bell rang again, stopping in front of a mirror quickly to fix her hair, just in case. Tidus, Baralai and Shuyin stumbled inside with their bags. Yuna almost closed the door when Lenne came barreling in. Paine followed not far behind, though she walked in more graceful than any in the bunch had. Yuna finally closed the door and everyone sat down, talking to each other.

"SHUT UP!" Rikku yelled finally. Everyone looked at her except Gippal, who had the bag tipped over on his face trying to get the crumbs out of the bag. Rikku scowled and pushed the bag so it crumbled in his face. "Fatso!" she said.

"Hey…" Gippal said ruefully, looking mournfully at the crumbs that were now stuck to Tidus's hair. Tidus scowled at the two and shook his fingers through his hair, attempting to get the crumbs out. Gippal tried to pick them from his hair, but was rewarded with a slap on his hand. Rikku continued.

"Alright. So we're going around the states. We're not really sightseeing… But us Cali people like road trips okay? We're just going to go! We'll stop for a while each day and get back on the road each morning. We leave tomorrow at nine o' clock! Okay?"

"At night?" Gippal asked. Rikku ignored him, unproductively. "But I can't wake up at nine! I'm already on a noon sleep schedule!"

"We should play some games!" Lenne said. Lenne was always the first one to suggest that they do something fun with their extra time.

"Before we do anything, I nominate that Tidus and Yuna are in the same car!" Rikku added. Yuna gave Rikku the darkest look she could muster. Rikku ignored her.

"I second that." Paine said. Everyone else but Yuna and Tidus raised their hands with an 'I'. Yuna scoffed.

"Fine! Then I nominate Rikku and Gippal are in the same car!" Yuna said, pointing to Rikku. The 'I's in response were much louder this time. Rikku knew that everyone sure got a kick out of watching Gippal annoy her. Everyone else didn't see it that way, though.

"Huh?" Rikku screeched. Gippal got a mischievous smirk on his face and raised his hand. Rikku gave him a disgusted look and turned away with her arms crossed.

"Let's play spin the bottle!" Lenne said. Lenne. The overly happy pop star. Lenne grabbed a bottle of soda that was sitting on the table. At least, it _did _have soda in it, before Gippal had drunk it all. Everyone immediately gathered around the bottle. Lenne spun the bottle and it landed on Paine.

"Redo!" the girls said.

"Do it!" yelled the guys. Except Baralai, who was probably the chastest of them all. Lenne shook her head and spun the bottle again. It landed on Gippal. Yuna could swear she saw Rikku's jaw drop for a second. But when she turned her head to get a better look, Rikku looked only mildly intrigued. Lenne smiled flirtatiously.

"Hey, Gippal," she said, crawling forward.

"Hey, Lenne," Gippal said before Lenne put her hand on Gippal's cheek and lightly touched her lips to his. She broke into a fit of giggles after she pulled away. Gippal leaned forward and spun it with a smirk. It seemed to spin forever until it landed on Baralai. Baralai stared at it blankly and then looked up at Gippal.

"Gippal… don't do it," he said with his hands out in front of him. Gippal jumped up and walked towards Baralai.

"Come on, Lai!" he said. Baralai stood up and started to run, Gippal in hot pursuit. The group stared silently after them until they heard a scream, and burst into laughter. Gippal came back with a proud smirk and Baralai with a disgusted look. That only made Rikku laugh harder until she was holding onto her stomach from side stitches. Baralai reached out and spun the bottle. It landed on Paine. She flushed and tried her best to keep her eyes on the bottle.

"Good, a girl!" Baralai said, leaning forward and swiftly kissing Paine. Paine's eyes went wide and she just stared at Baralai. He just shrugged and faced forward.

"Whew! It's getting _hot_ in here!" Gippal said. That sent Rikku into another fit of giggles. Paine spun the bottle and it landed on Rikku. Rikku looked from the bottle to Paine and then pushed it with her toe a bit. It changed to Tidus. Tidus looked disgruntled while Paine looked relieved, and Paine got up and lightly pressed her lips to Tidus's. Tidus didn't look happy at all, and spun it quickly. Tidus was a little scared of Paine, so he certainly hadn't ever dreamed of kissing _her._ The bottle came to a stop. It landed on Yuna.

"Of _course,_" Lenne said. Tidus crawled over and kissed Yuna a little longer than expected. Once he pulled away, Yuna turned red and spun the bottle without a word. It landed on Rikku again. Yuna grinned.

"Rikku!"

"Yunie!" They kissed each other swiftly and then started laughing. They had no problem kissing each other, since they were family. They had been kissing each other at family reunions and such since they were little girls. Gippal and Shuyin stared at them in awe. Rikku reached out and spun the bottle. It landed dead center on Gippal. Rikku looked up at him in shock, sure that it had been rigged. He smiled broadly.

"I'm gettin lucky tonight!" he said.

"NO!" Rikku yelled, leaping up and running away. Gippal ran quickly after her. Gippal seemed completely unconcerned that every person the bottle had landed for him that night had run away from him.

"C'mere Princess!" he yelled. She ran behind the couch and attempted to hide from him there. It was her downfall. He cornered her and tackled her to the ground, pressing his lips anxiously to hers. Rikku had a pained look on her face when he pulled away. "Was it to your satisfaction?" he asked, holding out a hand to help her up.

"You're a sloppy kisser," she stated as she took his hand and got pulled to her feet.

"Well, if you would hold still…" he said. They went back to the group, and Rikku buried her forehead in Yuna's shoulder.

"It was horrible, Yunie!" she whined.

"Yeah, yeah," Gippal said. "Let's play something else."

"Let's play Would You Rather!" Lenne said. "I've got one! Gippal, would you rather make out with Paine or Rikku?" she asked.

"Pft, Rikku," he replied without a breath of hesitation. Yuna and Lenne exchanged glances of sly grins. Paine glared at Gippal. Rikku hid her red face in her hands. Shuyin, Tidus and Baralai mumbled amongst themselves something about Gippal.

"Why?" Lenne asked.

"'Cause she's _sexy_," Gippal replied, winking at Rikku.

"Eww!" Rikku said, hiding her face again.

"Tidus… would you rather make out with Paine or Yuna?" Gippal asked with a glint in his eye. Tidus's eyes went wide and he looked at Yuna for the shortest moment.

"I'm tired. Let's go to bed," Yuna announced quickly, her face red. Everyone took out their sleeping bags and laid them out.

"C'Mere Rikku! It's beddy-bye time!" Gippal said, holding his arms out as if expecting a hug.

"Hm… nah," she replied, snuggling into her own sleeping bag.

"Don't make me come over there and get you."

"Go ahead and _try,_" Rikku challenged, glaring at Gippal. She suddenly knew that was the _wrong_ thing to say. He was over there in a flash and pulling her sleeping back away from her. He carried her while she was kicking and pushing him to his sleeping back and lay on top of it, wrapping his arms snugly around her waist. She tried and tried, but she couldn't get away. She sighed with defeat and he laughed, snuggling closer to her.

"You're too cute, kid," he said, his warm breath tickling the back of her neck. She grunted at him.

"Yeah, yeah." There was silence for a few minutes except for the faint sound of Gippal whispering into Rikku's ear, attempting to seduce her as best he could in a sleeping bag. Suddenly, a voice piqued up.

"_I_ never got kissed," Shuyin said.

"Aww, I'll kiss you!" Lenne said. They heard rustling and then loud protests.

"OW, Lenne, that's my leg!" Tidus said angrily.

"Sorry! Trying to get to Shu!"

"You found me… and my face."

"Good, that's all I need." The sounds stopped and were replaced by the continuous sound of lips coming apart. Gippal was no longer whispering to Rikku.

"Rikku?" Yuna asked, worried about the silence. I mean, they all expected it to happen someday, but she wasn't sure she wanted to have to listen to it…

"Mmn?" Rikku replied.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm stuck. I can't do much." Yuna laughed in relief and soon, all sound stopped and was replaced by the even breathing of sleep.


	2. Winky Smiley

**-sniffle- wellp, I just finished Memory of Lightwaves… haha? Anyway, prepare for more Iming! And I hope everyone deciphered the Screen names okay! THE WINKY SMILEYS WERE SCREWED UP but it's supposed to have a shift 6 at the end of it... ffn's givin me a hard time...**

Yuna and Lenne were the first people up. Rikku had somehow slipped away from Gippal, or maybe he had let her go, and was fast asleep in her own sleeping bag. Gippal was clutching onto a pillow, giving further evidence that Rikku had escaped. Shuyin, Tidus, and Baralai were as knocked out as Rikku was. But the two then realized that they were not the first ones up. Paine wasn't there. Suddenly, there was a loud beeping from Yuna's cell phone, which caused Gippal to sit up and smack back down onto the floor like a fish out of water. Lenne watched him apprehensively, and then gave Yuna the okay that he was still asleep. Yuna hastily pulled out her phone and opened it.

**Wake up. I'm hungry.** Paine wrote. Yuna shook her head. Lenne read over her shoulder and cleared her throat.

"ALRIGHT PEOPLE YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH BEAUTY SLEEP NOW WAKE UP!" Lenne yelled. Everyone but Gippal woke up. Lenne knelt next to Gippal and shook him by the shoulder. "Gippal! Wake _up_!" she demanded.

"Nooo!" he said, waving her hands away.

"Will you wake up if I give you a kiss?" Lenne asked seductively. Gippal smirked at her. Yuna was _sure_ she saw Rikku's mouth fall into a gape this time. She looked over in time for Lenne to tuck her hair behind her ear and lean down, pressing her lips to Gippal's for a _long_ time. The other side of her hair fell over them like a curtain, but not on the side that would hide it from Rikku's view. Yuna watched as Rikku's gape melted into a scowl, and she whirled away to start rolling up her sleeping bag.

Rikku rolled up her sleeping but couldn't get the buckles to stay together. She saw a hand come into her vision.

"Need some help?" Gippal's voice drawled, moving her hands away and buckling them for her. She huffed and stood up, stomping to the kitchen and grabbing an artichoke from a bowl in the center of the room. She walked back out and hurled it at Gippal, hitting him squarely on the head. He fell to his hands and knees with a high pitched "OW!" and looked around for the person that had thrown it, though Rikku had already stamped her foot and retreated back into the kitchen. She didn't know _why_ she was so angry. Probably because she knew that he would only break Lenne's heart, and everyone knew Shuyin and Lenne were going to go out _sometime_. Paine just looked at Rikku as Rikku threw open the refrigerator door and poked around inside, soon pulling out a yogurt and diving into it like she hadn't eaten in days.

Finally, everyone was in their cars. Yuna and Rikku were up front, with Yuna driving since Rikku didn't have her license, and Tidus and Gippal in the back. Paine was driving in the other car with Lenne next to her and Baralai and Shuyin in the back. Oddly, all couples that weren't couples at all were together, but not together. They started to head out and soon, Rikku turned the radio on. (BRING ON DA MUSICA!) They heard the faint "Woohoo" of Sweet Escape and Rikku turned it up so that the car pounded with the beat.

"WOOHOO, YEEHOO, WOOHOO, YEEHOO…" Yuna and Rikku yelled. Gippal seemed to cringe at the music. "Chick Music" is what he called this. Though Tidus seemed to like it, and he swayed back and forth in time to the music with a grin on his face. When he saw Gippal's unenthusiastic expression, he died down and stared out the window. Gippal eventually took off his seatbelt and turned off the radio, only to have Rikku stubbornly turn it back on. Gippal growled at her and then grinned, pulling out his cell phone before he sat back down, seemingly to _forget_ to put his seatbelt back on. Yuna saw this and slammed on the brakes for a second, causing Gippal to hit his head on the back or Rikku's seat. (It was cushioned; I wouldn't hurt Gippal _that_ much!) He put both hands over his forehead, glowered at Yuna, and then put his seatbelt back on. Yuna looked satisfied and looked back at the road. Gippal flipped open his cell phone and started typing things in. Rikku then heard her cell phone beep and Gippal's snap closed. Rikku sighed and pulled hers out, and sure enough, it said that there was a text message from TADA Gippal!

"Gippal! You're wasting my money!" she said as she whipped it open.

**Play some sexy music for me, huh? It'll go perfectly with your dance! ;D**

_Ugh… You bug me. And stop winking at me! It's getting annoying!_

**Well you know, I find that smiley very insulting.**

_Why?_

**Because I can't **_**wink**_** with my right eye! **Rikku had to think about this. She finally realized that the smiley _was_ winking with its right eye. She couldn't help it—she started giggling at the realization of it. (Read the note at the top if you haven't already)

**/- There. Now I look like I have a scar over my right eye and I'm chibi on my left, but we're getting somewhere. **Rikku started laughing more as she shut her phone. Sometimes being fifteen gave her giggle fits that would never cease.It took her a few minutes to get under control, and then she fell asleep in her seat. Gippal started thinking of things to do to her while she was asleep when Yuna's cell phone started ringing. She took it out and opened it with one hand.

"Hello?" she said.

"_Pull over into the Ramada Inn. Everyone's asleep in my car._" Baralai said.

"Lai? But, you're not the one driving…"

_"Exactly! _Pull over_!" _Yuna flipped her phone closed with a face in its direction and turned into the Ramada Inn parking lot. Rikku's yellow car soon pulled in after them. Yuna, Tidus and Gippal looked out the window to see Baralai leaning over from the back to steer the car with a panicked look. Paine seemed to be out cold in her seat. Baralai finally stopped the car and wilted with relief. Tidus and Gippal got out of the car and Gippal opened Rikku's door. She was still asleep, and opened her eyes blearily.

"We there yet?" she asked Gippal. He grinned and nodded.

"C'mon." he said. She shook her head.

"I'll stay here." She said, looking away from him as her forehead went red.

"Will you come out if I give you a piggy back ride?" Gippal asked, exasperated. Yuna hid a smiled and pulled Tidus by the arm towards Rikku's car. Rikku seemed to think about it then nodded. She climbed out of the car and jumped onto Gippal's back, her arms draping over his shoulders. By every appearance, she went back to sleep. Gippal shifted her weight on his back and walked towards the group.

"Aww, Gippy, you're like a big brother!" Lenne said, pinching his cheek. He cringed while Yuna put on a smile that was only half hearted and Shuyin looked at the ground, then at the sky. _Anywhere_ but the two of them. Yuna linked her arm around Tidus's and pulled him inside the huge hotel, the others following close behind. Gippal looked form the running group to the bags and then shrugged and walked towards the spinning doors.

Rikku opened her eyes to see a huge chandelier. She looked on and saw her seven friends at the front desk. She got up from the armchair they had left her in and went to the group to hear Lenne screaming. She sighed and walked more slowly.

"I SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHECK INTO THIS GODDAMN PLACE! I'M FRICKEN EIGHTEEN!" she yelled.

"All right, all right! I'll see what I can do…" said the lady at the front desk. Rikku tapped Yuna on the shoulder.

"Was goin on?" she whispered to Yuna while rubbing her eyes. Yuna just smiled at her and turned back to the front desk.

Rikku sighed and turned around, looking for her yellow suitcase. She soon realized it wasn't there and pulled out her cell phone and scrolled through her contacts until she got to Gippal. She typed in a short message and sent it.

**/- **Gippal opened his phone and laughed a bit, then put it away and grinned at her. She pushed through her group of friends until she was at the front next to Lenne, who she _extremely_ disliked for an unknown reason right now, and rested her elbows on the front desk.

"I need a king size bed." She stated simply.

"You're not getting it without sharing." Gippal said from the back of the group. Rikku scowled at him and turned back to the front desk with a charming smile. The lady at the front desk grinned in Gippal's direction and Rikku felt her smile fall. _Why does everyone _love_ Gippal? _She asked herself before pushing back out through the group, making sure to avoid Gippal completely.

"Where're you going?" Yuna asked her.

"I'm going to _get_ my suitcase, _change_ into my jammies, and then I'm _going_ to _bed_!" She yelled back at them, swinging open the doors. Everyone stared after her except Lenne, who was staring icily at the lady at the front desk.

**Ages!!!**

**Rikku- 15**

**Gippal- 16**

**Paine- 16**

**Yuna- 17**

**Tidus- 17**

**Lenne- 18**

**Shuyin- 18**

**Baralai- 18**


	3. Without You

**Dishclaimer: I don't own "Without You" or "Daikenkai"**

**It doesn't seem people like this one as much, but I missed my friends and I realized that the first chapter reminded me **_**a lot**_** of my friends. The next few chapters really aren't like them though… hah. Anyway, on with the show for the few people who like this fic :D**

Rikku woke up the next day and heard giggling and rustles. She sighed and pulled the cover over her head.

"Rikku?" Lenne said. _Ugh. _Rikku's inner self sighed.

"Whaaaat?" she said lazily.

"Um, we're all going out to the pool. Do you wanna come with us?" She asked. Rikku thought a minute.

"If you can wait for me to get changed I'll come." Rikku said, throwing her many comforters off of her. Lenne saluted her and handed her a bag of Rikku's clothes. Rikku took it from her with a yawn and selected her yellow bikini. Now was the time to get her tan going. She came out to see Yuna in her blue bikini and her huge sunglasses.

"Don't move!" Rikku said, finger combing her hair in the reflection of Yuna's sunglasses. Yuna laughed and walked away once Rikku had her hair tied up. Rikku, Yuna, Paine and Lenne all went down to the pool after banging on the boys room and informing them. They had barely sat down to begin their baking process when they heard a yelling from the gate and three of the boys leaped into the pool. Baralai walked in slowly and put his foot in the water, then sauntered away towards the girls.

"It's cold…" he told them as he pulled out a book. Paine smiled at him and Rikku nudged her, earning her an angry glare from Paine. Rikku just shrugged and looked as Tidus and Shuyin teamed up and tried to get Gippal underwater. Gippal eventually looked over at her with a smile. Rikku quickly looked down at her bag and ripped out a bottle of sun tan lotion, furiously rubbing it onto her skin. She glanced up eventually to see Gippal was no longer looking at her and sighed.

"Are you okay Rikku?" Yuna asked.

"Uh huh. Why?" Rikku asked, concentrating on rubbing the lotion into her skin.

"Your face is bright red. Come to think of it, it was like that while you were asleep last night. Are you getting sick?" Yuna asked. Rikku felt her face heat up this time.

"No!" Rikku replied, turning towards Paine to end the conversation.

"Isn't it funny that everyone in out double quartet is single?" Rikku asked Paine hastily. Paine raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you implying something?" Paine asked.

"NO!" Rikku said, turning to the pool again feverishly while crossing her arms over her chest. She looked around, but Tidus, Shuyin and Gippal weren't in the pool anymore. She suddenly heard s shriek next to her as Shuyin tossed Yuna into the pool, along with Tidus throwing Lenne in. Rikku only knew what was coming next so well, because the guys knew better than to play a trick on Paine. She looked up slowly.

"Hiya Rikku!" Gippal said brightly from above her. Rikku sighed and took her sunglasses off. She then jumped out of her seat and ran into the pool, going in on her own. She'd rather jump in by herself instead of have Gippal's hands around her waist. She came to the surface to see Gippal right in front of her. She yelped and went back underwater and swam away as fast as she could. She finally got to the shallow end and came back up. Paine sat on the side of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. Rikku waded over and rested her elbows on the side of the pool with a whimper.

"You like him." Paine said.

"Who?" Rikku asked absentmindedly.

"Don't act dumb." Paine said.

"I'm _not_ being dumb!"  
"Gippal!"

"What?" Gippal said from the other end of the pool. Paine waved her hand at him and he shrugged, and then continued to splash water at Lenne. Rikku tore her eyes away.

"I do _not_ like that loser." Rikku said glumly.

"Uh huh." Paine said, standing up and walking back to her seat, where she started a conversation that most likely had to do with Rikku, from the way Baralai glanced at her. _Psh_…

"Something wrong, Rikku?" Lenne asked, coming up beside her.

"No…" Rikku mumbled.

"Paine says you're in denial." She said with a grin. Rikku looked at her with a shocked expression, then huffed and got out of the pool.

"Come and get me when you're gonna do something that doesn't involve interrogating me!" She said, and then stomped to the hotel. She was almost to the elevator when a hand gripped her arm. She turned to see Gippal. She shook her arm out of his hand and walked on, him at her heels.

"Why're you so moody lately?" He asked. She clenched her teeth and tried to think of something to say.

"Because…!" She said half heartedly.

"Why is it that women can be bitchy whenever they want but guys can't?"

"Because guys can't be bitches!" Rikku shot back, knowing that it wasn't very impressive. Gippal remained silent for awhile. "Everyone's saying that I like you…" she mumbled. She knew he would find out anyway, and she'd rather not have them saying that she _did_, not that they _thought_ she did.

"That's good!" Gippal said brightly. Rikku turned to him.

"No, it's bad! Because I like… Shuyin! You're not some sex god Gippal! You're just a guy!" Rikku said, almost gasping at her own impulsive words. The first thing she was going to do after this trip was work on making her pride smaller. Gippal looked disappointed.

"Oh." He said, turning and walking away. Rikku watched him for a few minutes and then turned to the elevator and pushed harshly on the button.

Yuna, Paine, and Lenne burst in to the room about two hours after she had gone back.

"YOU LIKE _SHUYIN_?!" Lenne yelled. Rikku looked at her a moment, then shook her head. She'd rather not go along with it and then have Shuyin get awkward around her when it wasn't even true. She saw Lenne sigh in relief. She wanted to yell at her that if she cared about Shuyin that much then to leave Gippal alone. But she found either her vocal chords had been stolen for the minute, or she didn't have the heart.

"I only said that so Gippal'd leave me alone." Rikku mumbled, pulling out her laptop and signing onto her screen name. She saw Gippal's screen name on her list and immediately clicked on his name. _What's the point in lying?_

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Hey there.

Gippal didn't answer for a few minutes.

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **Hi

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Okay, I wanted to apologize for telling you that I like Shuyin, because I don't like him. I don't like anybody. For now, I'm just a one man show. Or girl.

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **Really?

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Uh huh.

There was a scream from next door that sounded much like Tidus.

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **Guess what tonight is?

Rikku didn't answer.

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **KARAOKE NIGHT:D

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Good! I can finally show you that I _can_ sing! See you there, buddy boy!

Rikku signed off and breathed a sigh of relief. Gippal was known for letting things go easily. It had just slipped her mind the minute she had started talking to him. They still had an hour to go until the karaoke, so Rikku lay in her bed and thought about things.

_Yunie likes Tidus, Paine likes Baralai, Lenne likes Shuyin _and_ Gippal, and Tidus, and Baralai… but she's flirty. She can't help it! She's one of my best friends! I'm not going to be mad at her for the way she is! And I like… Gippal…_ She sighed and rolled over until her face was in the pillow.

"I hate learning these things when I least want to!" she squeaked into her pillow.

The guys soon were banging on their door.

"Come on! I wanna hear this _amazing_ voice of Rikku's!" Gippal's muffled voice from behind the door yelled. Rikku threw open the door and pointed a finger in Gippal's face as he stumbled back.

"You will!" she said, walking past the boys. A flurry of "Ooo"'s sounded behind her as she strutted down the hallway. "Coming?" she asked, turning around. Gippal rushed over to her and grabbed her hand. She let out a small squeak as he pulled her to the elevator door.

"Let's go then!" Gippal said, pushing on the button as he let go of her hand. She gripped it with her own as if he had burned her and retreated to Yuna and Paine, while Lenne held onto Shuyin.

They got down to the bar where the karaoke was being held and walked in on an ear splitting note from a woman on stage. From the way that she tipped from left to right, Rikku had a hunch she was drunk. They sat down at a table, Gippal hastily making sure that he got the booth and pulling Rikku along with him. She sat next to him and stared at the stage, trying hard not to laugh. When the song was over, they asked who else would like to come up. Rikku raised her hand shyly. The announcer (of course) picked her. She climbed out of the booth and whispered what song she wanted to sing to the band, then went over to the microphone stand and pulled it to match her height. She took a deep breath and looked out at the bar, which was _a lot_ bigger now. She could barely see her group of friends from the light. When the music started, she hastily started to sing.

_"Aitai" tte hitokoto suna ni kaita  
Ano hi no umi no ao mabushisugite_

She suddenly felt more comfortable on the stage as the song speeded up.

She smiled and continued to sing at her queue.

_Zattou no machi kousa suru hito no naka_

_Kimi wo sagashi ni hitori samayou  
Watashi wo yobu koe kasuka kikoeta you na  
Furimuita kedo daremo inai _

She could hear her friends cheering her on and decided she liked the spotlight

on her. These lyrics meant something to her. She put her soul into the song._  
_  
_"Aitai" tte hitokoto suna ni kaita_

_Ano hi no umi no ao mabushisugite  
"Todokete" tte hitokoto sasayaitara  
Ano hi no kumo no iro kanashisugiru_

"Owari no nai monogatari nante nai yo" to  
Shisen sorashite tsubuyaita kimi  
Imasara dakedo sono kotoba no imi wo shirasareta toki  
Kimi wa inai

_  
"Arigatou" tte hitokoto tsutaetakute  
Hitogomi yuuhi no naka hashiri nuketa  
Nakitai tte kokoro ga sakende iru  
Taiyou ga watashi wo waratte miteru_

Nakitsukarete numutteiru aida ni mukaeni kuru ka to  
Yume miru I Miss You

"Aitai" tte hitokoto suna ni kaita  
Ano hi no umi no ao mabushisugite  
"Sayonara" tte kotoba wo kuchi ni daseba  
Harisakeru kono omoi sukueru kana.

She bowed when the song ended and quickly rushed off the stage.

Yuna looked over at Gippal in the middle of Rikku's song. She saw with satisfaction that he looked completely transfixed _and_ smitten with her. She turned back and tentatively leaned on Tidus's shoulder. To her relief, he didn't seem to mind.

Rikku climbed back into her seat and sat down, her face red from embarrassment. The next person to go up was Paine, after Baralai had forced her to put her hand up. She opened her mouth and took a breath when sound erupted from the table.

"BOO! YOU SUUUUUCK!" Tidus, Shuyin and Gippal yelled from their table. Paine gave them the 'Pain Glare' and returned to her seat in a huff, Baralai putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Lenne seemed a little too busy to want to go up and sing, seeing as she was now pinning Shuyin to his seat and teasing him.

"Come on people, are Lenne and I the only people who can sing around here?" Rikku asked. Gippal nearly tumbled over as he went to the stage.

"I can sing!" he said sharply into the microphone once he was up there. Rock music started soon after and Baralai looked frightened as Gippal start to—sing?

_Kaitentou kara nai gengo haitenshon to katai tenpo_

_I sendou suru jaiken go kara daikenkai senhou!_

_Kaitentou kara nai gengo haitenshon to katai tenpo_

_I sendou suru jaiken go kara daikenkai senhou!_

_Sanjuugo plus yon waru ni sura wa jikenu konpa sukitachi ni_

_Assari donkaku ni ne jikomu sabaketa ongaki wa_

_Dokkara doko made kabunkaran hatena wa onwaketa riyuu da_

_Doitsu to koitsu no chuukuri ga tarashita kanfuki na_

_San doori kara yon doori! hon douri yori honnou ni_

_Makaseta giri wo konpoushi gattsuri onkou ni_

_Hontou ni kono donkou ni mata gatteireba don't worry_

_Donpachi donpachi don kyou de doko don koubi suru nihon tou ni _

_San doori kara yon doori! Hon douri yori honnou ni_

_Makaseta giri wo konpoushi gattsuri onkou ni_

_Hontou ni kono donkou ni mata gatteireba don't worry_

_Donpachi donpachi don kyou de doko don koubi suru nihon tou ni _

_Donpachi donpachi don kyou de doko don koubi suru nihon tou ni _

_Donpachi donpachi don kyou de doko don koubi suru nihon tou ni _

When he sat back down, Rikku only stared at him for a few minutes. Then, she blurted,

"That wasn't singing! That was talking with rock music in the background!"

"Well, you still liked it, and that's all that matters." Gippal said arrogantly. Rikku sighed and looked back to the stage, feeling her eyelids droop. She slowly leaned against Yuna, only to feel herself pushed over to the other side. She didn't notice. The little kid in the bunch could only take so much. She fell asleep soon after Gippal wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

**Yeah, this it a GR fic, so I thought I should start working on that. Anyway, I had an English song in mind for Gippal, buuuut I decided to show that I think Gippal would be the sexiest rocker around, so I gave him a Japanese rock-ish song. And I couldn't resist the Paine part. Nighty night!**


	4. Fat State

**I didn't update for the past few days because I've had a friend over and yeah it was about a three day thing. I think… anyway, this doesn't seem to be very likable to many people -.-. Oh well… I'll do my best.**

Rikku opened her eyes and shut them quickly to find glaring light pointed at her.

"Wakey, wakey Rikku! We are your moooorining wake up call, it is four in the morning, and you need to _get- out- of- bed_!" Tidus said with a flashlight held to her eyes, tugging on her arm to punctuate the end of his sentence. Rikku moaned and was tugged up until she was in a sitting position. The guys were all in their room, crowded around her bed. She looked at them all stupidly.

"What… time is it?" was the only thing she could think to ask as she rubbed her eyes. They looked at each other.

"Four… like I told you!" Tidus said brightly. "Now up and adam! We've got things to do! States to see! Speaking of which, where _are_ we right now?" Tidus asked, looking over at the waking Yuna.

"California…" she said. Shuyin groaned.

"We'll _never_ get outta here!" he said. "It's endless! Why do we have to be such a tall state, couldn't we be a _fat_ state?" he continued, going to Lenne's bed and kneeling next to it, whispering into her ear. She started grinning as she awoke. Rikku rubbed her eyes once more and blindly picked up what she thought was a brush and started to run it through her hair. Luckily it was a brush, because she didn't think she could stand Gippal acting like he was a smart ass the rest of the day if he tells her it wasn't. She pulled out a tight knot and opened her eyes. Gippal was sitting at the foot of her bed, watching the other guys waking the girls up. Tidus sat on Yuna's bed and was holding her hand and talking to her with a huge grin. Yuna's was equally wide. Shuyin and Lenne were already past the "holding of hands" and Lenne was now sitting in Shuyin's lap. _She wakes up fast…_ She looked over at Paine and Baralai and saw them in conversation, an actual smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She sighed. All these relationships were set—except hers. Sure, she had thought that Gippal liked her a few times. But Gippal was more of the people who liked the chase, and once it was over, things got boring. Not the type to actually settle down with someone for about a _month_ even. She looked over at him and noticed him staring at her with a thoughtful expression. A blush rose to her face and she looked away.

A month ago, you couldn't have _paid_ her to even think about Gippal as a boyfriend. He had seemed like the most arrogant person ever. Now, every time she saw him, she had to clench her teeth to avoid saying something and wring her hands to stop herself from running her fingers through his hair. She was sure he wouldn't mind—at the time. But then if he thought she would want a relationship he would just push her away and go for somebody like Lenne—which he already has. She worked another knot out of her hair and then put the brush down, swinging her legs out of the bed and grabbing some clothes from her bag. She rushed into the bathroom and locked the door, double checking that it was locked. She took a shower, then dried her hair and put on the clothes she had selected. She came out to find almost everybody gone. Almost.

Gippal sat in the same place he was when she had gone into the bathroom except now he was spread across it like he could fall asleep any time. Rikku took a deep breath as she walked over to him, tapping his nose. He brushed her hand away.

"G'way…" he said to her, opening his eye a crack.

"I'll bet everyone's left without us." She said, a drop from her hair falling onto his face. He wiped it away and quickly sat up, his face coming too close to hers. He didn't seem to know what he was doing, but Rikku took two steps back all the same. He looked at her then shrugged, stretching and going to the door after he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder.

"You drooled all over me last night." He stated, looking at his arm. That was the _second _thing he's said to her all day! First was 'G'way' and now it's 'You drooled on me'! _How does he romance ladies so well?_ Rikku thought bitterly, shoving him as she marched out of the room. "Oooh, I think it's actually snowing here." He said, shutting the door behind him.

"Stop treating me like I'm five! Insulting me isn't going to stop my tantrums _or_ send me into one! You're a decade behind!" she said, her voice echoing in the hallway. She knew that at least _one_ person had woken up because of her. She heard Gippal sigh behind her and trudge after her slowly. She seemed to have the shortest fuse when it came to him, even though her minutes thinking of him were getting longer.

They came out to the parking lot to get wicked smirks from most people, except Shuyin and Lenne, who were back up against a car with Lenne's hair covering both of their faces. Something seemed to make all their smiles crash, and Rikku spun around to see Gippal staring innocently up at the dawn sky. She scowled at him and turned back to her friends, throwing her bag into a trunk.

"I'm switching with someone!" She announced. Everyone looked at her. "I can't _stand_ another two plus hours with _him_!" she added, pointing to Gippal. He frowned at her as though he didn't _know_ why she was mad at him. She wasn't quite sure either. Nobody seemed to volunteer. Rikku's blood boiled as Gippal had the nerve to sling his arm around her shoulders.

"Guess you're stuck with me, huh?" he said brightly.

"Ouuh… I hate you _so_much." She mumbled. In a flash his arm left from her shoulders and both his hands were gripping them tightly, pushing her against her small yellow car that she couldn't even use. She stared up into his face, noticing only too easily that his lips were just inches from hers. She glanced at them, and then turned her eyes back to his. He was smiling at her.

"Now, you don't _really_ mean that, do you?" he said, his face coming close to hers, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to prickle. She couldn't help but let her eyes droop closed.

"No I… guess not." She mumbled.

"Good!" Gippal said, taking her hand and swinging her off of the car until she was facing him with her hand gripped on his shoulder. _It's always like this…_ she thought dully as she tugged her hands away from him. She rubbed them as if he had squeezed them tightly, though his grip on her had been gentle, and she climbed into Yuna's car, closing the door behind her. Everyone noticed with a grin that she had chosen the back seat. Well, everyone beside Lenne and Shuyin, who were still in their own world.

Yuna drove down the highway with a song sounding like a lullaby playing softly. Rikku suspected she had done it on purpose as Gippal poked her repetitively but gently on her shoulder. She finally turned to him.

"What?!" she said. He looked happy that she had finally noticed him fully.

"Do you like me?" he asked simply. Everyone seemed to turn and stare wide- eyed at him, until Yuna got a beep from behind her. She immediately looked back at the road while turning the radio off. Rikku felt uncomfortable at the sudden silence.

"As far as liking goes…" she replied, turning to the highway again.

"Do you like me enough to kiss me?"

"You're asking some personal questions, nosey!"

"So you do?"

"I didn't say that."

"So you… don't?"

"I didn't say _that_ either!"

"So you do!"

"Shut up!"

"C'mere! I'll kiss you!" he said. "I'll be even _better_ than last time if you hold still." He said. She decided to find out what would happen if she took him seriously. She turned to him and looked him in the eye. Bad move. He immediately sprung forward and pressed his lips to hers, putting his hand behind her head. Rikku felt panic poke at the haze in her head as she was pressed easily against the window by his lips. Liquids seemed to swirl about in her stomach as he broke the kiss for a moment and seemed to decide he didn't _want_ to stop and he brought his lips back down. Rikku vaguely heard Yuna squeal with delight from the front seat. But then, everything was vague right about now.

**I had to put it in eventually. Anyway, school's starting on Tuesday -.- You know what that means… less updates then ever before! Anyway, aishiteru aaand I'll see you kool kats later **

**Update: I'm not doing squat until I get at least seven reviews. I feel ignored! Please review? It makes me happy! -angelic smile-**


	5. Dance Floor Anthem

**Yeah if you're reading this then I guess it means that people reviewed. YAY! Good for you! I'm so bad at writing light hearted fics. I don't write fics that smother you in angst or anything… I don't think. But I'm having a hard time with the humor. Anyway, on with the show…**

Rikku spent the rest of the ride secretly smiling to herself as Gippal lounged. He occupied himself for a good five minutes by tapping his foot on the back of Tidus's chair until Tidus threw his water bottle at him. After that, he seemed to go to sleep.

Every time she thought of it again her spine trembled and she got a flighty smile on her face. She also immediately wiped it off her face and tried once again to fall asleep. She finally did, and felt that only minutes later she was being waken up by Yuna. She climbed out of the car and looked around.

"Where're we?" she asked. Yuna looked around.

"I think we're either in Arizona or… New Mexico…" she said unsurely. Rikku sighed. She trudged to the back of the car, avoiding Gippal's eyes, and pulled out her bag, happy to know that there were pajamas waiting inside for her.

She slouched into an armchair with Gippal sitting next to her silently as Shuyin tried to get them a room to spare everybody Lenne's temper. She blindly made her way to the elevator that everyone was flocking towards, taking Gippal's shoulder to stay balanced occasionally. He didn't seem to mind, but she hadn't expected him to anyway.

"I'm going to bed…" Rikku stated, pushing the card in upside down. She scowled at the light on the door as it turned red and flipped the card over.

"Y'can't go to bed yet, Rikku!" Lenne said. "We've got things to do!" She added, tugging Rikku's hand. Rikku waved her hand in the air and pointed to herself.

"Little kid here!" She stated. She had learned to accept it as a plus to be the youngest.

"But you were sleeping all day in the car…" Gippal said, apparently _forgetting_ to mention the fifteen minutes that she _wasn't_ trying to sleep. She tried to scowl at him, but her drowsiness made her see three of him, so she ended up scowling at the wall next to him instead. He looked to the side as if something was there, then looked back at her. Shuyin strode down the hall and put his card in, opening the door on the first try. Rikku had to try four more times. (I can never get those cards thingies either!) She finally it unlocked and ripped open the door.

"Come and get me if you're gonna do something fun." She said, closing the door. A minute later she was met with banging on the door and protests from Yuna, Paine and Lenne. She growled and tore the door open again, then stormed over to the bathroom and shut the door before Yuna could shower her with questions.

It didn't work. Yuna proceeded to scream through the thin door,

"Rikku! What was it like? Oh my god, your face was _so_ red! Open the door! RIKKU!" Rikku opened the door to see Lenne grinning at her stupidly.

"You and Gippal _kissed_?" she asked. For some reason, it sounded to Rikku the way a mother would say "Really?" if she didn't believe that her child _actually_ punched their classmate because they took her cookies. Rikku mumbled something along the line that it was _him_ doing the kissing. She then took her hair out of her ponytail and ran her fingers slowly through it. A bang on the door caused her to jump and she went over to the door. She opened it to see Gippal leaning against the door frame.

"The guys think we should all go out tonight since we're in the city and all. Apparently Tidus wants to go to a dance club." He said with disdain in his voice. Rikku mentally kicked herself as a dimwitted smile sprawled across her face.

"Alrighty…" she said, looking behind her at the other girls. Yuna excitedly nodded. "Uh—come back here in half an hour." She said. Gippal sighed.

"Right. Because it takes you guys hours to get ready for these things. I'm glad you're cutting down your time for _us_." He said with a grin to Rikku. She hurriedly shut the door on his and rushed to her bag, opening it and pulling out the black dress with yellow slits in it that she had brought with her. She grinned at it. She _knew_ she would've needed it. She brushed out her hair and put on what little make up she could figure out, and then flopped down on her bed waiting for her friends.

They finally trotted out of their room to see the guys slouched against the walls wearing the same things they wore earlier. They all sighed at each others insolence and moved on towards the streets to test Gippal's skills of calling a taxi. He failed all fifteen times and then pushed Rikku against the brick walls behind them to silence her giggles, only to have her slip out of his arms quickly. Shuyin and Tidus soon took over, also failing miserably. Baralai stepped timidly towards the road and let out an earsplitting whistle, causing two cabs to screech to a stop. They all stared at him with wonder as he opened a door, and they piled into the two cars evenly.

Gippal told the cab driver to take them to some sort of dance club and Tidus told his driver to just follow their car. They soon stopped at a place with neon lights lining the doorway and they all clambered inside, Yuna huddling against Tidus. Lenne's eyes seemed to light up like light bulbs as she saw the dance floor and she instinctively reached out and grabbed someone's hand, towing them towards the crowd. To Rikku's annoyance, that was _of course_ Gippal. He gave a nervous grin to her as he nearly tripped over his own feet. Rikku scowled at his back and trailed after Yuna, pulling at the hem of her dress. They sat down at a booth and looked out at the people. Tidus urged Yuna to go dance with him, to no avail. He eventually turned to Baralai to sulk.

"Take a look at Lenne…" Paine said in a monotone voice. Though Yuna and Rikku knew her well enough to know that it wasn't a particularly _happy_ monotone. Rikku kept her eyes glued to the wooden table in front of her. She'd rather not see Lenne grinding with _Gippal_.

"God… it's like _sex_ on hardwood floor…" Yuna said. And so, idle conversation began until Rikku heard a familiar guitar blast through the speakers. She leaped from her seat, grabbing Yuna and Paine's arms.

"DANCE FLOOR ANTHEM!!!" She yelled, tugging them with her to the floor. Rikku decided to prove that _she_ could dance too, even if she couldn't move her hips like they were jelly.

_Say I don't wanna be in love, I don't wanna be in love._

She looked over to the table to see Gippal sitting there and watching her. He grinned and waved to her. She frowned at him and turned back to she and Yuna's dance, with Paine idly rocking from foot to foot to the beat and soon slinking away back to the booth. Tidus later came out to dance with them, soon sending Rikku back to the table from neglect.

They were all thankful for the light of the city to help them get through the dark streets. Gippal never strayed more than three feet from Rikku. She felt annoyed with him, but glad all the same, since it was so dark outside.They got two cabs with Baralai's help, even though he was half asleep. Nobody talked much. They just enjoyed not having to stand on their own feet and nursed their pounding heads. Rikku absentmindedly hummed "dance floor anthem" as she waited to get back to the hotel and snuggle up in her bed.

Rikku took Gippal's hand and pushed herself out of the car in front of the hotel, and then he closed the door behind her with a smirk as Tidus bumped into the window. Tidus scowled at him and opened the door again, closing it loudly behind him. Rikku laced her fingers together and put them on Yuna's shoulder, resting her head on top of them and trying to walk fast enough to not trip over Yuna's feet.

They all got into the elevator and Paine pressed in their floor. They all just leaned against the wall until Gippal sighed.

"That was kinda fun." He stated. Rikku lashed out from the interruption of her song. _Plus_ she was pretty sure what kind of _fun_ he was talking about.

"I'm sure it was." She said scornfully.

"You looked like _you_ were having fun!"

"I was, thank you." Tidus, Baralai and Shuyin looked at the two of them with a clueless expression, while Yuna and Paine knew exactly what they meant. Lenne chose to avoid the situation by examining her nails. Rikku looked at her with a heat filled glare. _She can't avoid me forever…_

**Disclaimer: I don't own that line from "Take the Lead"**

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've been busy with that thing called school. And my friends… anyway! I'll try to update faster. Sorry!**


	6. Lenne Sandwich

**Yup. So the fun factor is going down. Getting more Ginny-ish. –sigh- I guess you can't expect a very funny fic from me. Sorry!**

Rikku tossed around until she gave up and tugged her laptop out, retreating into the bathroom. She sat down on the cold floor and opened the laptop, waiting for it to turn on. She tapped on the side of the screen with what was left of her fingernail until her desktop came up. She signed onto her IM and looked at her list. Of course, Gippal was on. He hardly ever slept, which was usually the reason he was so hyper active in the mornings at school. He had about three cans of Mountain Dew each morning.

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx:** Heyy.

**TheSEXYAlBhed:** Yo…

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Ouch, some bodies not in a very good mood.

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **I'm TIRED. And I'm getting sick of sleeping in a goddamn car!

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Angry, angry, angry. Snap, snap, snap. You should really find a more healthy way to get your anger out instead of taking it out on your laptop and me.

**xXDisaterrificBabeXx: **Hello?

**TheSEXYAlBhed:** Sorry. Zoned out.

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx:** Daydreaming about _me_! Right???

**TheSEXYAlBhed:** Yup. Wish I could kiss you again.

This was the thing Rikku hated about the internet. She couldn't tell how Gippal was saying things. She couldn't tell whether he was joking or not, though she had a feeling he was.

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Har har. Nice to know I'm that good at it.

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **Well, of course, I'll always be a step ahead.

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Of course! You're full of it, you know that?

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **Yes I do. It's a good trait to have, because it is also self confidence. Wanna know what I'm doing right now?

**xXDisasterrificBabeXx: **Not sure. I'm a little scared.

**TheSEXYAlBhed: **I'm…

"RIGHT HERE!" someone yelled, a bang coming from ahead of Rikku. She shrieked as loud as she could and hid her face. She heard laughing in front of her and looked up. Gippal stood with his cell phone in his hand and the door handle in the other. Rikku could almost cry she was so scared and mad at the same time.

"ASSHOLE! How the hell did you get in here?!" she yelled. Miraculously, Yuna, Paine and Lenne were still asleep. She prayed one of them would wake up.

"Door was open already." He said, stuffing his cell phone in his pocket and sitting down next to her. She scooted away from him, causing him to grin and move closer to her so that her hip was against his. She narrowed her eyes as he reached out a hand and twirled a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Is your idea of flirting scaring the shit out of people?" she asked him curtly. He nodded.

"'Cause then I get to hold them and make them feel better. D'you want me to make you feel better?" he asked as though he were actually _concerned_. Rikku decided not to answer him. "Okay then!" he said, his hands surrounding her face as he tilted her head back and kissed her. She growled in her head. _Of course_ he would take silence as agreement. Her eyes flickered closed soon after. She shifted herself so she was facing him more head on, then pulled away and sat in front of him, hurriedly kissing him again and wrapping her arms around his neck. She wondered how these things happened, but pushed the thought away moments later. She didn't want to jinx herself. After about a minute she opened her eyes and tugged away from his hold.

"Stop being like this goddamit!" she said in a hoarse whisper, turning her reddening face away from him. He looked at her with a baffled expression.

"Huh?" he asked.

"You know what I mean! Stop confusing me!" she knew it was a well known fact that most guys had no idea they were confusing someone. Somehow she knew Gippal was one of them. But she conveniently forgot about that.

"Waddaya mean?! I'm just kissing you!" he replied. Rikku found it funny how he said that. He said 'just kissing you' like he was 'just making a sandwich' or something like that.

"Yeah, sure. And then tomorrow it'll be a 'Lenne' sandwich or a 'some other random girl you pick off the street' sandwich." She mumbled as she attempted to cool down her face and slow her heartbeat.

"Sandwich…?" Gippal was officially lost. Rikku sighed and stood up.

"I'm tired. I guess I'll see you in the morning." She said, walking out of the bathroom. She opened their door and looked expectantly at Gippal. He followed behind her and touched her wrist before he left the room.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. He didn't seem to _really_ care, which only made Rikku angrier.

"No!" she said, shutting the door. If there was one thing she hated in the world, it was people asking her what was wrong. If there's something wrong, then she would obviously not want to relive it and explain what happened, right?

She fell face first into her bed and yanked the covers over her head. She decided to give sleeping one more try. Her new thoughts would give her some things to dream about.

**Grr school. Full of drama. Teen drama, of course. I'm an expert. Anyway, I don't think this is a very good fic and I'm just finishing it because… because I have nothing else to work on. Except homework. But come on. Who does **_**that**_


	7. Genophobia

**So, I'm in a pretty good mood. Let's see how this goes. Also, the language that Gippal starts speaking in is Italian and it's gonna suck because I got it off of free translation hah and they suck… anyway, hope you like it!**

Rikku's eyes flickered open to see two eyes staring back at her. One was green, one was blue. She scrunched up her eyebrows and stared at the eyes with a confused expression for a few seconds, then bundled up in the covers again. Suddenly, something slammed onto her side and she let out a whoosh of air.

"Wake up Rikku! It's time to go to breakfast, 'cause it's free here!" Yuna said, shaking Rikku's shoulder and then moving onto Lenne's bed. She altogether avoided Paine's bed. Rikku sighed and rolled out of her bed, going into the bathroom and closing the door. She was tempted to curl up in the bathtub and go back to sleep, but the shower curtain wasn't much of a blanket. She took a shower and then came out to the room again. She pulled her wet hair up into a ponytail and put her chocobo pajamas on again.

"I'm going down. See you guys there." She said, taking a room card and trudging out to the first floor.

She got there and looked around the buffet tables. She saw a mass of blonde hair spread across one of the tables. She grinned and walked over to it.

"Tired?" she asked. Tidus nodded slowly, the table making squeaky noises from his forehead being against it.

"I don't know how, but Gippal got one of those blasty-horny things… and decided to be our alarm clock for the day. You guys are lucky these walls are as thick as Gip's head." He said. Rikku almost laughed, and then thought about how awful it would've been if he had woken _them _up with a horn. Suddenly, there was a flash of black next to Rikku and then warm hands wrapped around each of her forearms. Rikku turned her head to see Gippal ducking behind her.

"Hide me!" he squeaked. Rikku would've laughed at his high pitched voice had not a blood chilling yell come from the front of the room.

"You're gonna die Gippal! Kiss Rikku goodbye!" Paine screamed while she had a red horn in her hand. (You know those really loud ones that have a can attached to them. Apparently Gippal made the mistake of waking up Dr.P with one of em.)

"Alrighty…!" Gippal said. He kissed Rikku swiftly on her cheek. "Bye bye Cid's girl!" he said, running off quickly down the hallway.

"Come here!" Paine yelled, chasing after him. Rikku giggled. Yuna, Baralai and Lenne came down a few minutes later. Yuna went to Tidus's table and rubbed the back of his head. Lenne pulled an apple out from the buffet table and Shuyin sat down heavily in a chair next to Tidus. Baralai seemingly disappeared after that. Rikku sat down with them and Lenne joined them soon after with a cup of apple juice.

"I don't think I can stand driving in those cars much longer." Lenne said, biting into her apple. Rikku nodded in agreement.

"I think I've developed claustrophobia." Shuyin said.

"I've got philematophobia and philophobia…" Rikku mumbled. Yuna giggled, being the only other person who knew what those meant. Everyone else stared blankly at Rikku for a few minutes until Tidus piqued up,

"Huh?"

"It's the fear of kissing and the fear of falling in love." Yuna said. Rikku sighed and put her head on the table.

"And amaxophobia… fear of riding in cars…" she said. She had once had an obsession of memorizing over fifty phobias. She found it very funny to be able to tell people what they were afraid of. "Betcha Gippal's got genophobia… or gynephobia…" she added with a smirk. It was a joke that no one else got. (Genophobia fear of sex, Gynephobia fear of women)

"How do you know these things?" Shuyin asked. Rikku shrugged.

"I'm scared of not being perfect… what's that?" Lenne asked. Rikku thought for a minute.

"Umm… atelophobia." She replied. "You know what? I think we should go to Disney world." She said.

"Huh? But Rikku, we were just in California! We could've gone then." Yuna said.

"I know. I want to go to the one in Orlando. I want to go on a plane!" Rikku said. Gippal entered the room with a very scared expression.

"Whad I miss…?" he asked, looking around in a paranoid way.

"We're going to Disney world!" Rikku said excitedly. Gippal's frightened expression disappeared.

"No way… _that_ stupid place?" he asked.

"What are you talking about? Disney's awesome!" Rikku said, glaring at him.

"Nuh uh. They don't have any good roller coasters!" Gippal said.

"They've got Space Mountain and the Rockin' Roller Coaster!"

"That's _it_."

"So? They've got that alien ride… that's scary!"

"Not anymore. It's all… Lilo and Stitch-ified now." Tidus said. Rikku growled.

"Aliens! They're the same whether it's Stitch or not!" she said, banging her fists on the table. Lenne finished her apple and tossed it in the trash.

"Well I'm all for it." She said with a grin. Rikku whooped and jumped up and down.

"C'mon guys! It's better than just driving around and doing nothing!" she said. Yuna thought for a moment.

"All in favor of going to the happiest place on earth raise your hand." She said. She, Rikku, Lenne, Tidus and Shuyin raised their hands. "And I'm sure Paine would love to go if she were here. And so would Lai." Yuna stated. Everyone looked at Gippal, who was absentmindedly cracking his knuckles. He looked up at them after he finished.

"You can either stay here or come with us to Disney." Rikku said with a smile. Gippal sighed.

"Alright, alright, I'll go." He said.

"Yes! We are going to Disney World!" Rikku said.

The next day, they were all sitting in the plane listening to their iPods, reading books, annoying Rikku etc. They got to the airport in Orlando and found their bags. They got on a bus which took them to Disney world and told everyone that they would be stopping at all the hotels to drop off the passengers. Everyone froze at the sentence.

"Do we have reservations for a hotel?" Baralai asked hesitantly.

"Do you think _anyone_ would remember to? These things are usually planned months in advance! We planned hours in advance." Shuyin said. Rikku sighed and dropped her head to her knees. Of _course_ this happens on her summer vacation.

They eventually got off at the Polynesian resort. (I stayed there last time. It was pretty cool!) Lenne trudged over to the front desk purposefully. They had decided that her _commanding_ presence would hypnotize the front desk to give them two rooms.

"Hello! We've come for our rooms here." Lenne said.

"Okay… your last name please?"

"Law!" Lenne said quickly. The lady gave her an odd look but typed it into her computer.

"Uh… you're not with Mr. Law are you?" she asked. Lenne thought a moment.

"Yes we are." She said bravely. Rikku marveled at her ability to keep cool when she had no idea who 'Mr. Law' was.

"Okay, well he's left for the film set already, so I can't let you into his suite until he gets back." She said regretfully. Rikku jumped as Gippal yelled something from next to her.

"Prenderme più cibo! Correre, ha corso, ha corso!" he yelled. (Don't go translating this… I'll do it for you at the end.) Rikku looked up to see him wearing black sunglasses and looking at Lenne. Lenne looked at him with a confused expression.

"Um… Sì il signore. La destra lontano signore. I ballerini di asta vengono presto." She responded. "Ma'am I really have to get up there before my boss starts to rip my hair out." She said urgently to the lady.

"Oh, here is Mr. Law. MR. LAW! Sir! Ahem JUDE!" The lady called. Rikku spun around in time to see none other then… _the_ Jude Law. She squeaked as he passed by her, and he grinned at her as he went. Her mouth was hanging out with a huge smile until Gippal reached over and curtly closed her mouth. She started hopping up and down on the spot.

"Mr. Law, these people say they are with you, I just wanted to verify this before I let them up to you room." The woman at the front desk said.

"Uhh… shit!" Lenne said, picking up her bag and putting on her sunglasses. "Look at that time, gotta fly, I have to be at Six Flags in five minutes, TOODLES!" she said, running over to the group. "Let's go!" she squeaked to the group. They all rushed after her. Gippal spun around and saluted Jude Law and the front desk.

"Ciao!" he said in a flirtatious tone, slinging his bag over his shoulder and following behind the group at a slow walk.

When they were all outside the hotel, they started laughing hysterically.

"What the hell Gippal?!" Lenne said once she could speak. He shrugged.

"It was something I knew. Somehow…" he said. "So what now?"

"Guess we're sleeping under the stars tonight." Rikku said, pulling out an extra blanket she had been carrying around and bundling it up so it looked like one very long pillow. Everyone laid down on it and stared up at the sky.

"This is the best summer ever." Yuna stated. Everyone nodded in agreement.

**Okay, so, those translations.**

**Gippal said: "Get me more food! Run, run, run!"**

**And Lenne said: "Yes sir. Right away sir. The pole dancers are coming soon." Or something along those lines. Don't ask how Lenne and Gippal know how to say these random things in Italian, I have no idea either. They're just naturally talented I guess. Anyway, sayonara! (That's Japanese :D)**


	8. Iris

-1**Buenas noches! (or dias, or tardes…) So I spell checked this chapter when I finished it, but I didn't read through it for those mistakes that it just a word spelled incorrectly, because I was so tired by the time I finished this. Anyway, on with the show!**

Rikku opened her eyes and squinted at the sun.

"Wake up people! We're in Disney World!" Rikku yelled. Everyone moaned and covered their eyes. "WAKE UP! Gippal, where's your horn?" Rikku squeaked has Gippal's arm wrapped around her waist and she was pulled back down to the ground.

"Hush. I'm sleepy." He mumbled to her. She stuck her tongue out at him and snuggled back into the pillow energetically. She eventually got bored and wriggled her arm out of Gippal's hold. She put her finger on his eyebrow and pulled it up, showing his light green eye.

"Psst. Gippal. I'm bored. Why'd you choose now of all nights to sleep?" she asked.

"Oh, you want me awake do you?" he said, rolling off of his back so Rikku was pinned down to the ground.

"Gippal! Get off of me!" she squeaked. She wriggled around trying to somehow get out from underneath him. Which didn't happen.

"Nope. I don't feel like it." He said, slowly running his hand down her thigh.

"Stop it!" she said, though she wasn't taking him seriously at all. Gippal would never _try_ to be sexy in the morning. Gippal sighed.

"I try and I try. What do I gotta do to get you to actually _like_ me, Cid's girl?" he asked, taking his hand away from her thigh and pinning both her wrists to the sides of her head.

"You could _get off_ of me." She said.

"No, because this is a good position. I can get you to do stuff for me in this position." He replied, leaning down and kissing her neck lightly.

"You are so lucky I can't move right now… fatso." She mumbled to him.

"Mmm-hmm." He replied, planting one more kiss on her neck before straightening again. "So, answer please."

"Huh?"

"How can I get you to like me? Hmm?"

"I don't know!" Rikku was exasperated by now.

"What would you do if I told you that I loved you?"

"I would laugh at you."

"But that would hurt my feelings."

"I didn't know you had any. And besides, all the more reason to laugh at you." Gippal leaned down and whispered in her ear,

"I love you, kid." She was only a little surprised. She pursed her lips at him when he had straightened with a proud smirk.

"HAHAHA!" she yelled at him. "Gerrof!" Gippal half sighed and half growled as he rolled off of her. Rikku took a deep breath and looked over at the others. They all stared at the pair with wide eyes.

"What?!" Rikku asked, standing up and walking away. After she got a few yards from the group, she stopped. She wasn't sure exactly _where_ to go, since she was stranded on the island of grass in the middle of the resort. "You guuuys, I wanna go home." She whined, stamping one of her feet in the lush grass.

"What?!" Most of them said.

"This sucks. We're over a thousand miles from home and we have no where to sleep, and we have no car, and our credit cards are probably almost maxed out. Let's just go home and spend the rest of the summer at everyone's pools." She said.

"But Rikku… you're a _freshman_ now. You've gotta spend your freshman summer as a high school kid!" Tidus said.

"Easy for you to say. You're _juniors_ now. And those three are seniors." She said, pointing to Lenne, Shuyin and Baralai. "And I'm just a _ninth_ grader."

"I'm just a tenth grader…" Gippal said. Rikku ignored him.

"Can't we just… go home? We've been driving around for about a week now and it's getting old." She said. Everyone was silent for a few minutes.

"I guess it is a good idea. Hopefully we won't max out our cards going home. If we do, we might have to call our parents." Yuna said. They all nodded slowly. They were probably all dreaming about being home again. Rikku packed her blanket in her bag and they set out to find the bus going back to the airport.

Paine used her credit card for the first time during the while trip to get them tickets on the plane. Rikku sat at the window seat and looked out the window as the plane started to roll along the runway. Gippal was gripping to his seat until his knuckles went white. He had been afraid of planes ever since his grandfather had died in one that crashed, and Rikku didn't suspect he would feel any better now. She tapped his hand with her finger and slipped her hand in with his. He gripped it painfully, but Rikku found it sort of cute that he was _finally_ afraid of something.

"You were kidding, right? When you said that you…" Rikku said, not being able to finish the sentence. Gippal almost laughed next to her.

"You're a smart kid. I'm sure you can figure it out." Rikku almost sighed in relief when he added, "I wasn't." Rikku turned to the window as Gippal's grip on her hand relaxed, and he instead laced his fingers with hers. She grinned and watched the clouds go by, then soon took out her iPod and turned on the shuffle. She eventually gave one earphone to Gippal to get him to stop looking over his seat and whispering to Baralai that this was exactly like Final Destination, Baralai being afraid of planes too.

She listened happily until "Iris" came on, and reached for the iPod to change the song. She almost had it when Gippal snatched in up.

"But Gippal! This song makes me sad!" she said.

"Well _I_ like it. It was me and my ex girlfriends song, and what a girlfriend she was." he said, a glazed expression coming onto his face along with a stupid grin. Rikku narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'd rather not hear about the last girl you knocked up." she said. He stuck his tongue out at her.

"_And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand."_ he sang to her. She grinned at his horrible singing voice. They all knew he could sing, since he was the lead singer of his, Shuyin and Tidus's band. He just chose to sing horribly in front of them all for the sake of being comical. "_When everything feels like the movies, yeah you bleed just to know your alive." _He said. He then passed the iPod to Rikku. "You don't appreciate a good song, kid."

"It wouldn't be on my iPod if I didn't appreciate it." she said, plucking the earphone out of his ear.

"Fine, then I'll show you some _real_ music." he said. He tugged his iPod out of his small duffel bag and put one of the ear buds in Rikku's ear, the other in his. He turned it on and Rikku jumped as a guitar exploded around. Gippal hit his hands on the Baralai's seat along with the drums. Rikku never got to the actual song, since she took the earphone out and gave it to him.

"You deafened me…" she mumbled, settling into her seat and closing her eyes.

She woke up drowsily to look out the window. She was _still_ on the plane, and she could still see nothing but clouds. She squeezed her eyes shut as she turned her head to get the stiffness out of her neck. She then felt something fuzzy brush against her jaw. She opened her eyes to see Gippal's blonde hair on her shoulder. She sighed. She'd rather not be a human pillow, but she didn't want to wake him up either. So she sat in silence and occasionally talked to Lenne, who was sitting in front of her.

When they got to the airport, they ran out quickly and found the entrance, then let the automatic doors open. Rikku skidded to a stop when she was on the pavement, causing Gippal, who was thankfully walking, to bump into her.

"Jeez, Rikku, why'd you stop?" he asked. She choked on her words, then pointed to the sky. Gippal looked to where she was pointing.

"Oh, shit." he muttered. Looming over them was a tall tower that had lights blinking all around it. The Eifel Tower. Rikku let out a short scream and stamped her foot in her rage.

"How does this always happen?!" she asked.

"Think of it this way… you always wanted to go to Paris…?" Gippal stated as more of a question than a reassuring statement. Rikku heard the other's shuffle up behind them.

"Now what?" Paine asked glumly. Most of them were speechless, except for Gippal who was off singing Italian songs with a hat held in front of him. Rikku stamped over to him and took the hat from him.

"We're lost, not broke idiot!" she said. He frowned at her.

"Is it so terrible to earn a little pocket change?" He asked. She nodded and walked back to the group. Gippal then came to get his hat, which was empty. He snatched it from Rikku's grip and set it on his head roughly, then crossed his arms and stared at the Eifel tower. Yuna sighed.

"I guess we should turn around and… get another flight." she said, plucking up her bag and dragging her feet towards the doors. The rest followed.

15 minutes later

"You're sure you can't?" Yuna asked one last time.

"No I'm afraid not. The fog's just too thick." the attendant stated. Yuna returned to the group solemnly.

"What happened?" Tidus asked.

"She said that we can't get out, there aren't any flights going out because the fog's too thick. We're stuck here until it clears out." she said.

"What?! But we probably don't have enough money to stay in _Paris_!" Shuyin stated, pulling out his newly maxed credit card and waving it in the air. Everyone assumed they had about three hundred dollars left on each of theirs until one person didn't speak. They all turned to Baralai, who had not used his card at all.

"Heeey Laaaaaai!" Lenne said. "Let us use your card to sleep on beds tonight?"

"No! My parents will take my library card away if I max out my credit card!" he said.

"Please Lai? Do it for Paine?" Rikku asked. Paine's head shot up at the mention of her name.

"Aww…" Gippal mumbled sarcastically. "A little church boy and a Satanist. Isn't that just _ironic_?" Paine sneered at him. Baralai sighed and pulled out his card. He looked away and held it out. Yuna's fingers snatched it immediately and she rushed to an ATM machine at the end of the street.

Once they had some cash, they got a cab and went to the cheapest hotel possible. When they landed at a motel, they asked for the cheapest, _decent_ hotel possible. They were dropped off at a plain looking hotel and they got two rooms. They stood in the elevator when Lenne burst out in excitement.

"It's only six o clock and we're in Paris! I say we go out to dinner tonight. I know all the girls brought something nice to wear and you guys have gotta have something that'll work. And French food is only good in France!" she said.

"Yeah! We should! After all, once we get home we've got no money, and probably won't anytime soon since none of us got summer jobs." Yuna said.

"I did." Baralai said.

"Volunteer work doesn't count, Lai. You're not getting cash." Rikku stated. He sighed.

"Okay! So, we're getting French food tonight! Meet you guys down in the lobby!" Lenne said as the door opened and she dragged Yuna and Rikku through it, Paine following close behind. The door slid closed slowly as the guys agreed to something they had no say in whatsoever.


	9. Escargot and Mousse

**Anyway… so yeah, when in Paris, get French food. Me, I've only ever been to Mexico. So… I wouldn't know. But who cares! Sheesh… let's get on with it.**

Rikku lunged in her bed in the yellow dress she had brought with her. She still had no idea how she had managed to get all of the clothes in there, but lately they hadn't been fitting quite so well going back in. Paine was flipping through her book slowly when Lenne and Yuna came out.

"Rikku you look so plain!" Lenne said.

"So?" Rikku asked. It was a stupid statement. She was just sick of wishing she could get away from these people. She wished she could just go and get sushi or something like that. But she couldn't even figure out where to go and buy Pocky, because everything was in French!

"Don't you wanna catch Gips eye?" Lenne asked, raising her eyebrow suggestively.

"No. It's bad enough that while only having one, he seems to pick up on every little detail."

"Aw, leave her alone Lenne. This trip is really stressing us all out. It feels like the book that never ends. No matter what, the protagonists always get into another conflict." Yuna said. Rikku picked up her purse and shrugged it onto her shoulder.

"Let's go then! We'll think of this as the last moments of summer vacation!" Rikku said. She went to the door and pulled it open, rushing to the stairs and going down them. Somehow the thought of having a real dinner livened up her mood. Enough to make her use the stairs old school.

Rikku got down to the bottom of the stairs and entered the lobby. She immediately found the three dumb blondes and one smart guy who keeps them from doing things too risky. Tidus, Gippal and Shuyin were crowded around Baralai and poking his forehead repeatedly. Baralai looked like he was about to explode from frustration with them, but he was one of those people that thought it would be better to let your anger out in a healthy way, rather than poking Gippal's other eye out and telling them all to fuck off.

Rikku went over to them and watched for a little while.

"What're you doing?" she asked. They didn't even look at her.

"We tried to poke Gippal, but he whipped one of them Dutch army knives out on us." Tidus said. Nobody even bothered correcting him. It would just confuse him more. Shuyin continued their explanation.

"So, we decided Baralai most likely isn't carrying a knife and bottle opened are nail filer and-"

"Baralai's the better choice." Gippal said shortly. They eventually stopped when they heard Rikku's toe tapping on the floor. Gippal grinned at her. They hardly ever saw her with her hair loose, and everyone told her she looked better with her hair down. She just preferred not having it all in her face.

Once Lenne, Paine and Yuna got out from the elevator, they started getting ready to leave. Baralai comically clung to Paine and hid his face in her shoulder, hoping to be saved from the poking. Tidus kissed Yuna when she grinned at him shyly, and Shuyin 'oooh'ed as was expected from a senior watching juniors. Lenne gave him an exasperated look, but kissed him anyway. Rikku felt jittery, knowing that Gippal was probably wondering why he was the only one out of all the guys still single. Well, Baralai was still single. But it was given that he and Paine were going to go out _sometime_. It was still a mystery whether he and Rikku's relationship was going to progress at all. She avoided his look and took the lovey-dovey ness alright until Tidus and Yuna became glued together.

"Alright, I'm hungry, can we go?" she said, shifting from foot to foot. Her voice snapped Yuna out of her kiss, and she looked at Rikku. The sudden break made Tidus stumbled forward. He cleared his throat and they all shuffled out wordlessly. Except for Gippal, who was singing some song that nobody could hear.

They got to a restaurant that looked like it was at least not a chain restaurant. They went in and Lenne asked for a table for eight. Before they were taken to their table, she asked the waiter,

"What day is it today?" He looked a little confused by her question, but smiled politely.

"Tuesday. If you'll follow me?"

Rikku stared at her cursive menu with strain. Everything was in _French_. Which she knew she would look like an idiot if she announced that, but she didn't want to order something and have no idea what she was eating. She saw something that looked familiar in the entrée section. _Escargot_. She had heard it before, and her parents said it was delicious. She set down her menu and waited. Gippal seemed to be having just as hard a time as she was reading the menu, but he was laughing helplessly about it because Tidus seemed to think that tilting the menu upside down would show a hidden code of what it said. She felt like she usually did when Yuna was studying when she saw Yuna, Lenne and Paine apparently reading theirs without a problem. They placed their orders and waited for their food, talking about memories of the past school year.

"You remember that time when we were all cutting class?" Rikku asked excitedly. Everyone recalled the time and started laughing. They had all spent a period skipping class and had tried to get through the school without running into each other. Rikku and Gippal had impeded on each others directions many times, and one time literally bumped into each other because Gippal had turned a corner too fast. Soon after that, Baralai had tripped over them, and then a teacher had found the three. They were given ISS for two days and one detention. Rikku and Gippal found it as a harsh punishment, but Baralai found it completely fair since Gippal yelled "Dammit!" about fifty times—every time he ran into someone. He explained he was just expressing his frustration in what he thought was a healthy way, and that ended the conversation. Apparently Yuna had just stayed in the elevator the entire time since she was Zen enough to just sit there, and the rest had wandered around. Except Paine, who got bored and went to class eventually.

"And that time that Yuna tried to teach us to meditate?" Lenne asked. Everyone shot glances at Gippal, who was the only one besides Yuna that stayed awake. They had proceeded to paint everybody's faces while they were asleep. They continued talking about such times until somehow they got into all the drama they had had in the past.

"Remember when Paine almost ripped Rikku's hair out?" Shuyin asked. Tidus and Gippal laughed while Rikku ran her hand through her hair.

"It's still there thank you very much." She said, her chin high.

"What were you guys fighting about anyway?" Yuna asked. Rikku and Paine looked at each other. Paine grinned.

"I can't remember." She said. "It was probably something stupid." She said. Rikku nodded. The only thing she had remembered was that Yuna was holding a wig and looking at Rikku in astonishment. They had been going through Yuna's closet one day, and Yuna had found a wig she had used to be Sleeping Beauty one Halloween. When Rikku saw it in her hands, she had fainted.

Their food came soon after and Rikku stared at her food.

"I got seashells for dinner…" she said.

"No, you got exactly what you ordered." Gippal said with a grin. "Escargot. _Snails_." Rikku put her hand over her mouth.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she gasped.

"I thought you knew what you were doing!" he said. "Want some of mine?" he asked, pushing his plate towards her. He had a plate of sea fricassee, after he had consulted Paine on what everything was. Rikku wished she had less pride as to simply ask what the hell everything said.

"No, I think I'll try this…" she said, wishing she could try it. He shrugged and started pulling his plate away. "Well maybe a bit!" Rikku added, her fork jumping out to take a scallop. He grinned and took a forkful of salmon, then turned to watch her try the escargot.

She poked at it with her fork for a while, wondering if the snail would start sliming all over desperately trying to get away from her fork. She eventually found it very much dead and pierced it slowly. She lifted it to her lips and closed her mouth around it slowly, keeping her tongue out of the way of it. She soon took if off the fork and started chewing. She thought for awhile then smiled and swallowed.

"Gip, this is good!" she said excitedly. Another fork came into her vision and took one off her plate.

"I gave you some." He said with a grin, and then ate the escargot. "Hm… not bad. I still like my lovely fish better though." He added.

"Yeah, and I still prefer Japanese food and I would give _anything_ to have some miso soup right about now. But you can't have everything."

"Anything? Even me?" He asked with puppy dog eyes—eye. Rikku shook her head with a grin.

"Well… maybe not you." She said. He seemed satisfied with the answer and continued to polish off the remains of his seafood before Rikku could take anymore.

The dessert menu came later, and half the table banged their heads on it when they saw that there were translations on _this_ menu, but not on the main course.

"Ah! I know what this is! One… strawberry ice cream please!" she said. Everyone else ordered some flavor of ice cream except Gippal and Tidus, who were known for their obsession with things that had maxed out chocolate, got the chocolate mousse.

They went back to the hotel and Lenne flipped open her cell phone.

"Ten. I guess no one wants to go to the tower tonight, huh?" she said. They all shook their heads.

"I'm thinking a pool night." Shuyin said. They all agreed with a "WOO!" and got a cab back to the hotel. The next three hours were spent splashing around and playing chicken in the pool, of which Rikku was undefeated until she had to go against pain. Then, she and 'The Gippanator' were officially creamed. After that, the hotel staff came out and told them they had to get out because they were being too loud. They all moved into the boy's room, which was considerably neater than the girl's room.

Rikku at one point tugged a dollar out of her purse and went out into the hall to get a soda. To her dismay, Gippal went with her. She still didn't know _what_ she felt about him, and wasn't too keen on being questioned by him.

"So… what's with your hair?" he asked. She looked at him.

"What?" she asked as she turned back to the machine and rubbed the dollar across the corner to flatten it out.

"This summer you're kinda… different."

"Yeah, well last summer you weren't coming onto me like I was one of your many girlfriends."

"Is it so terrible for you to be attractive?"

"Is that all you like about me?"

"No."

"And you wonder why I don't like you."

"This is what I mean."

"What?" Rikku gave up on forcing the machine to accept her dollar and turned to him.

"You've been such a… you're always up and down one minute you talk to me like I'm one of your best friends, then an hour later you talk to me like I dumped paint on you."

"Which you _have_. And I'm only being like this because I'm trying to figure some things out."

"Like what?"

"Like what I'm going to do when you try to kiss me again." Rikku said, clenching her teeth. She knew he was right. But they were both proud people. She wasn't losing this without a fight.

"If you want me to leave you alone, then you could just say so." Rikku didn't want to answer him. If she said yes, he might not talk to her _at all_. But if she said no, she was right back to circles. "Alright." He said. He started walking away.

"Well what about you and Lenne? How'm I supposed to like you when you're probably making out with Lenne every night?" She said. She was desperately trying to figure out something to say that will call a truce silently in this conversation. That was the wrong choice.

"Hm. If you opened your eyes, you'd see that she loves _Shuyin_. Not me."

"Which is the excuse people use to say that they don't love someone."

"Which is the excuse you used last year at Shuyin's eighteenth birthday party when Lenne asked you if you liked me. You said that I had a girlfriend anyway."

"Well… that's different!" Rikku felt panic coming. Gippal may not try in school, but he wasn't _stupid_.

"Uh huh." Was all he said. He then opened the door and stepped in without another word. Rikku sighed and turned around, bumping her head on the vending machine a few times. Gippal used to be the one she talked to about her boy problems. Whenever someone didn't like her, he would send them some sort of eerie death note, and it always made her feel better. Now, who to talk to, when the problem was _him_?

**So… this was an odd chapter. Thinking of wrapping it up. I got ideas yet to spring out of my head into my fingers. I didn't run through this one for stupid little mistakes. Sorry. Sayonara!**


	10. Paris Holds The Key To Your Heart

**I'm cooking up a storm lately! Probably because my computer ish fixed and it's really preeeeetty. Anyway, last or second to last chapter maybe? I don't know. Gotta see what my random string of events plays out this time. Enjoy!**

Rikku eventually joined the group with her acquired Sprite. She opened the bottle and drank half of it, her throat dry from her recent conversation with Gippal. She risked a look at him, and quickly averted her eyes when she saw his stare dead on her. She looked again the next minute to see him with his head tilted back on a pillow. Tidus was poking his forehead, but he wasn't paying attention. He looked like he might fall asleep any second. She drained the rest of her soda and tossed it in the trash, turning to her friends. Yuna looked at her with a pained expression.

"What?" Rikku asked.

"Man, _everybody_ heard _that_ spat!" Shuyin said. Yuna pursed her lips at his openness. Rikku would want to be let down _gently_ that they had heard their words to each other. They had almost _dared_ each other to admit their feelings for the other. Which meant that there might be no secret anymore, since all the other wanted was to be _told_ that they won. Gippal already had told Rikku he loved her, but she didn't believe him. He was hardly serious when he said that.

"So what're you gonna do?" Lenne asked. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Nothing. There wasn't anything there in the first place." Rikku replied. She spoke quietly. She didn't believe Gippal was asleep at all.

"Oh god Rikku, would you _stop it_? This whole denial of affections thing was normal in middle school, but it's just immature in high school." Lenne said. Rikku was taken aback for a few seconds. Lenne didn't lose her temper with her friends often. Only to people she didn't know. "You love him, don't you?" Rikku didn't want to answer that. She was in the spotlight. Everyone stared at her like she was growing a horn on her head. She absentmindedly put a hand on the top of her head as she looked down at the ground.

"What does it matter?"

"It matters a lot! He might love you too, and it might come to him in a dream how much he _yearns_ for you and then everything will be good! It's like the legacy of the gang. Final Fantasy! That's what we'll call it. The Legacy of Final Fantasy! This is the chapter of the climax of the Gippal and Rikku volume. And then as you date through high school it will be the falling action and then when you get married and have god knows how many kids is the part where they tie up the loose ends. Then they get on to other unfulfilled couples, like Paine and Baralai!" Tidus said, earning a glare from Paine. Though nobody could deny they were an "item" by the way Baralai grabbed her hand and held it tightly. Rikku rolled her head around to the ceiling then stood up.

"I'm gonna go to bed… night." She said quietly. She glanced back at Gippal who was once again watching her, and she grinned painfully at him. She then turned and quickly opened the door. When she got into her room, she sat in front of a mirror and pretended she was Lenne.

"You're so stupid Rikku! God, you screw everything up! You have a chance at the guy you know you've liked since about sixth grade and you blow it because you're too immature to accept the fact that relationships aren't the same as in _Chocolat_ where she falls in love with a pirate and they have no problems except for him leaving for a little while! God!" she yelled, flopping back onto her stomach. Whenever she wished she could cry, she couldn't. She just got that lump lodged in her throat. "God…" she whispered one more time.

"Very interesting." Came a voice from behind her. It was familiar, so she didn't bother turning around. "So I guess I've won this competition." Gippal said as he pulled back the curtains in the room to look at the tower. He had a strange obsession with watching it when the lights were on.

"What do you mean?" Rikku asked.

"Well, you just told the mirror that you liked me, but I overheard. So you cracked first, right?" he said. Rikku sighed.

"This doesn't have anything to do with a competition." She said.

"I know that. I just love that you compare your life to movies."

"You don't?" Rikku asked. Gippal sat down in front of her and watched out the window.

"Nah." He said. "I like my life better than movies. I think I got some pretty good friends." Rikku laughed lightly.

"Friends…" she said. She didn't know why the word humored her current mood. Maybe it was more a bitter humor from him using the word 'friends'.

"Yeah… guess so." Gippal said. Rikku saw him clench his fists and make a face at the window. She felt a terrible wave of confidence and covered his view from the window, kissing him lightly. She opened one eye tentatively and was relieved not to see him looking at her like she had broken some ancient law. He was just looking at her thoughtfully, and then he kissed her again. She stood up abruptly. Suddenly, this room was _very_ hot. Or maybe it was her face. She took off her sweater but stopped halfway when Gippal spoke up in an amused tone.

"Woah there girl. Let's take this relationship one step at a time." He said. Rikku scoffed and tapped her toe against his shoulder. She sat back down when she had the sweater off and rested against his shoulder.

"So, does this mean we're… dating?" Gippal asked. Rikku grinned and didn't answer. "Riiiiikku?" He looked at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Mehbeh." She said past her tongue. He stuck his tongue out at her as well. He then made a move to get up.

"Fine! Then I'll just go and tell everyone the _saucy_ facts about what exactly happened in here. I'm sure Yuna and Lai are just _dying_ to know, since they're gonna be virgins for the next ten years." He said.

"You're completely ludicrous." Rikku said. He just grinned at her and exited the room. She waited for him to walk back in. She waited a minute. Two. Three. "_**GIPPAL! **_**Don't****you**_** dare!"**_ Rikku jumped up and ran to the room next door. Everyone stared at her like she was insane. "I'm completely sane! It's _him_ that's crazy!" she said, pointing to Gippal, who smiled innocently at her. "Don't you look at me like that!" she said, though she couldn't help but grin back at him. Vacation was looking up again.

Rikku woke up late the next day. But not late enough, since all the girls were still asleep. Rikku listened at the wall and didn't hear anything. She ran over and opened the door and tiptoed over to Gippal's bed. She prodded him with her finger and earned a smacked hand. She frowned and pulled up on his eye patch. He opened his eyes slowly and she smiled at him. Then she let go of his eye patch. It smacked back down into place with a loud "slap!" He took a deep breath and put his hand to his eye.

"Owwww…" was all he said.

"You'll live. You got anymore of those horny things?" Rikku asked. He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

"Horny, you say?" he said, sounding like he was trying not to laugh.

"Yes, the ho-"she then realized what he found so amusing and frowned at him as he started laughing. "You sick boy. I sympathize you." She stated. He laughed for a few more seconds, and then fumbled around in his pockets. He pulled out one of his horns and pushed down on the button. All that came out was bit of mist and a dull "squeaaaaaak…"

"Dammit…" Gippal said. He opened the drawer next to his table and pulled out a package. It had five other horns in it. Rikku gaped at it for a second, and then wiped it away when he had one out of the package. He pushed down on the button and it immediately let out the ear piercing sound. Tidus nearly tumbled out of the bed next to Gippal. Baralai woke up slowly. Shuyin didn't move a centimeter. Rikku grinned.

"Thanks!" She made to grab for it, but Gippal whipped it out of her reach. Tidus stayed sprawled over the floor.

"Ah, ah, ah. What're you gonna give me for it?" Gippal asked, smiling at her. She sighed.

"It depends on what your currency is." She said.

"I like kisses." He said it as if it were candy. She told him that too, before she leaned over and kissed him for what she had _meant_ to be a second, had he not "accidentally" made her fall onto his bed and he pinned her down. When he let her go, he looked up at the ceiling.

"Well, you're not a Tootsie Roll, but you're still pretty sweet." He said, grinning at her. She snatched the horn out of his hands and sneered, but bit her lip when she straightened up. He lay back down in his pillows and twiddled his fingers at her while she walked away.

When she got back to her room, she looked around at the three other girls. She sighed and then held the horn up. The second she pushed down on the horn, she jumped. She could only see everything sideways. She thought she was going insane, until she sat up.

"I was asleep…?" she asked, looking around at all of her friends, who were asleep in the boy's room. "NO!" She yelled, sitting up and looking down at herself. She was in her satin yellow dress still. Except, it wasn't so pretty now that it had all these wrinkles in it. She growled her anger. "It was a _dream_?" she flopped back onto the pillow she was laying on. She heard steps behind her. She looked up.

"You say something?" Gippal asked. She thought to say no first.

"Did anything… _different_ happen last night?" she asked. He seemed to think for a minute.

"Other than you eating snails… no." he said, turning away. Rikku ducked her head down in misery. So that confidence she had had been a dream. Everything had been a dream. Had their fight been a dream too? "Oh… forgot." Gippal said. She looked up only in time for him to kiss her lightly. She gasped. "And that." He said with a grin when he pulled away. She bit down on her tongue as she got a stupid grin on her face. _Laadeedaa…_


	11. Highschool

**Here we are. Last chapter. This was fun to write, aishiteru! I got some new stuff coming, so sit tight and be a good moogle, ya hear?**

Rikku nearly threw Lenne over her shoulder and sent her flying to the airport. They were finally going home! Home, where her pillows were just the right fluffiness! Where her puppy, Scoot, was waiting for her! He was probably so big now. Lenne was packing all her things at a glacial pace. Rikku danced on the spot.

"Rikku, you can go if you want. I'm sure the guys are all down there already. Except Lai, who's gotta do his prayers… and say grace before he eats any airplane food." Lenne said. She sounded annoyed, but understanding at the same time. Rikku rushed out of the room and flew down the stairs. She came out of the lobby and was surprised to see Baralai there with the others. She scuttled over to the group.

"Morning." They didn't answer. She humphed and put down her bag. She got ready and then threw her arms around Gippal's neck from behind, jumping up and putting her legs around his waist. "MORNING!" She said more loudly this time. He started to say something that was inaudible but then held onto her legs so they both wouldn't go toppling down to the ground. He spun around until they were both dizzy and Rikku was laughing helplessly. Baralai and Shuyin were grinning but Tidus looked confused.

"G… plus… R… equals… GR… that's a bad omen!" Tidus said. He pulled a miniature ladder out of his pocket. "QUICK! THROW THIS OVER YOUR SHOULDER! Wait, that's the wrong one… ummm…" he pulled out a jumble of cats, ladders, salt shakers, mirrors, and a building. They were all miniature. "Hold this." He said, tossing things into Rikku and Gippal's hands. Rikku got the building and the cat. She counted the windows on the building and learned that there were thirteen floors. She grinned. Tidus then took back the cat and building and gave her the salt shaker. "It may not have salt in it, but it might still work." He said breathlessly. Rikku played along, and tossed the entire shaker over her shoulder with a grin. "No! Now you spilled more than you did before!" Tidus said, chasing after his lost salt. Baralai put a finger up.

"He is giving himself to the Devil. Superstitions are extremely sacrilegious." He stated. Rikku and Gippal both sighed. Shuyin shook his head and turned away. There was a bing behind them and the other three girls came out of the elevator. Tidus's distressed expression changed to one of excitement and he rushed over to Yuna, taking her hands and whispering in her ear. She grinned discreetly. Shuyin took Lenne's bag and she smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek. Baralai tried to do the same, but Paine whipped her bag away. Poor guy wasn't getting lucky today. Rikku felt Gippal's arm slither around her waist and his head rested on hers. She took a deep breath, and then relaxed. She leaned against him until they were ready to go. They actually had called ahead and got a van that would hold them all this time. They went to the airport and loaded onto the plane. Rikku nestled into her seat. California, here she came.

Their flight finally dropped them off at Arizona, as Rikku remembered halfway through the flight with an exasperated screech that scared Gippal that they still needed their cars back. They got into their cars and started off on the highways. They sped along, and didn't stop for a long time. But the rides were reasonably high spirited, because everybody was glad they were going home. Rikku eventually sprawled across the backseat with her head on Gippal's armrest. But, it was comfortable, because there was a pillow tucked behind her head. She had quiet conversation with him for awhile until he settled down to fall asleep.

"You're never gonna get on a normal schedule when schools rolls around." Rikku whispered to him when he closed his eyes.

"Not true. I can do fine with the nocturnal schedule." He said. Rikku scoffed. Stay awake all night, sleep all day. Typical. And he still manages to pass.

Three days later, they were finally only five miles away from home. Rikku was immensely excited. She started texting with Lenne after awhile. (Rikku's bold, Lenne italicized.)

**So, how's your ride going???**

_Pretty good. Yours?_

**Alright. Tidus and Gip are asleep and Yuna won't talk while she's driving. It's kinda funny and kinda annoying at the same time.**

_Lol. So, what's up? How's life?_

**Pretty good. How're you and Shuyin? –wink wink, nudge nudge-**

_Lol, we're okay. He's all like thinking that I cheated on him and I said that I would never cheat on him, but he said he _saw_ me cheat on him._

**Well… you and Gip were sorta… tight for a bit.**

_Oh that was all in good fun! Besides, it's hard not to when he's so _hot

**Uh huh…**

_Oh cheer up._

**Do you like him?**

_Huh?_

**Gippal.**

_Yeah._

Rikku felt herself heat up with something like anger and something like despair at the same time. She probably couldn't compete with Lenne if she put her mind to it. She didn't like to think of that.

_Don't be so quiet. It's not like you might've thought that I didn't._

**I did.**

_Well, if Shuyin and I ever broke up, then I probably would've gone out with Gippal._

**It's funny…**

_What is?_

**You act as if you have no idea we're going out.**

_No, I know. But, what's the point in lying to you? I got over lying awhile ago. It just leads to drama, drama, drama._

**Telling the truth can lead to drama too.**

_Least I didn't cause it._

Rikku couldn't talk to her anymore. She didn't understand why Lenne was acting like this, but she was in no mood for it. She shut her phone and put it on silent, then took out her iPod and scrolled through songs that she could listen to about girls trying to take her boyfriend, and her coming out on top with some impudent remarks.

They finally arrived at Rikku's house and all ran into the lounge screaming. Rikku thought she saw a flash of her dad, but he was gone then. Then, her puppy Scoot ran over to with his tail nearly throwing him across the room from its huge wags. Rikku lifted him up and hugged him tightly as he licked her face. She laughed and put him down to greet everyone else while she thumped down onto a couch. Lenne walked in a few minutes later and their eyes met. Lenne smiled at her, but it wasn't a friendly smile. It was more of a… challenging smile. Rikku pursed her lips and didn't smile back. This was nothing to fight over, but still. Lenne had been a little too honest about her thoughts. Rikku knew she had no right to tell Gippal, but she wished he wouldn't talk to her anymore. The more he talked to her, the more she'll take up the challenge that had silently been made between the girls. Rikku felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she arched her back against the couch to tug it out by the antenna. She flipped it open and there was a text from Yuna.

**It's a little chilly in here.**

**You and Lenne. I could cut through this tension with a knife.**

_Oh._

**What happened?**

_Tell you later._

She flipped her phone closed and turned it off, leaving it on the coffee table. Gippal sat down on the couch next to her.

"Home sweet home." He said.

"Might not be so sweet." Rikku replied absentmindedly. He gave her a confused look but didn't ask anymore. Lenne suddenly jumped on the couch and sat next to Gippal, leaning on him subtly. She caught Rikku's eye and grinned at her. Rikku wanted so badly just to leap over Gippal at her and rip her hair at her. Lenne was one of her best friends, but best friend or not, boys were something no girl learned to share. Rikku just let her eyes flare at Lenne, and she then turned away. Gippal didn't seem to notice Lenne, and Rikku didn't seem to notice Gippal ignoring her. He took Rikku's hand and laced his fingers with hers, and she grinned faintly. She still was in a sour mood though.

The next few hours were spent by people charging their cell phones with every outlet in Rikku's house, and watching movies that were traded from girl's choice to guy's choice. Hey, it was only two in the afternoon! They weren't gonna just go home and go to bed. There were lives in California to live!

The first movie was a chick flick, of course. When it finally came time for the goody- goody protagonist to dramatically and accidentally say she loved the alluring bad boy in the rain that she loved him, Shuyin and Tidus had a hysteria attack when Baralai actually tried to _make a move_ on Paine. Except they stopped laughing a minute later when Paine responded to his attempts _very_ well. Lenne and Yuna were 'aww'ing at the TV, while Rikku was nestled into Gippal's arm as they both fell asleep. Chick flicks had never been a favorite of either of theirs. Then, the guys raided Rikku's DVD's -which only had chick flicks from Yuna leaving her movies behind- and tugged out War of the Worlds. Yuna and Lenne groaned while Paine and Barlai didn't respond to it at all. Moving on. Whoever thought of "Opposites attract" was _spot on_.

"I'm scared, so if an alien gets me tonight, it's all your fault." Lenne said to Gippal as she hooked her arm with his. He didn't respond except to tug his arm out of her grip and put it on Rikku's waist as he put small kissed along her jaw and on her cheek. Rikku would've loved to have seen Lenne's astonished face if her eyes weren't stuck closed from Gippal making her so lightheaded.

After they had watched three and a half movies, they packed everyone into their two cars and started to drive them all home. Shuyin and Tidus got out at Gippal's, and so did Rikku.

"Walking me to my door, huh? Such a gentleman." Gippal said with a wink to her. She laughed and gave him a light push.

"Can you believe we still have eleven weeks left of summer?" Rikku said as they walked slowly to the house while Shuyin and Tidus raced each other in there. Gippal put a hand to his head.

"Whoa there. I'm not doing _any_ math for awhile." He said.

"You do math everyday." She stated.

"You sound like a teacher."

"No, just your conscience."

"Dammit… thought I got rid of that too." They got to the doorstep. Rikku looked up at him expectantly.

"Waiting. Sweep me off my feet, like all those guys in the movies we watched." She said. He thought for a second, and then pushed her lightly by her shoulders against the wall.

"Well… if we're going for a more _flirtatious_ sweep… then I can't just go in for it. First, I have to get you _in the mood_." He said, tracing her jaw till he got to the center of her chin, then trailing it down her throat until he got to the neckline of her shirt. "Or, we could go for the _Chocolat_ approach." He said, kissing her swiftly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and relaxed completely until he pulled away and she came back to her senses. His lips brushed against her ear.

"Or we could always go for _The Notebook_." He whispered to her. She could just _tell_ he was smirking. She scoffed.

"I don't think so." She said. She kissed him again, but was shocked away from him when Yuna slammed on the horn. Rikku giggled and waved to Gippal as she jogged back to the car. Yuna smirked at her and drove on to the next house.

Rikku was silent until Lenne spoke up.

"Rikku. Could you come with me for a minute?" She asked. Rikku realized that they were at Lenne's house. She jumped out of the car with Lenne reluctantly. Lenne stared at the ground.

"Sorry…" she mumbled. Rikku just watched for her to say something else. "Sometimes I get pretty competitive. Two years ago, Gippal told me that he liked me and somehow it felt like a security blanket or something to have a back up plan. And then he started flirting with you awhile ago and I guess it just started getting to me…" Lenne said. Rikku felt pangs in her chest that Gippal used to like _her_. What if he liked her again? She grinned and hugged Lenne.

"You just gotta find a way to make it up to me." She said, grinning and waving to her as she ran back to the car.

_**Four Months Later**_

Rikku felt a tap on the back of her head and turned as her friends giggled. They were all looking at her and laughing. She bent down and picked up a balled up piece of paper. She hurled it at Shuyin and their laughs only got harder. The teacher whipped down his book and everybody immediately stopped. Rikku rolled her eyes with a grin and turned back to her homework. It had been a miracle that they had all been put into the same study hall, but it didn't really matter since that was only forty minutes. Gippal leaned forward in his chair. He tapped the girl in front of him's shoulder and gave her a folded up note. She grinned widely at her and he smiled back, and then pointed to Rikku. Her brown curls seemed to droop with her smile as she turned and gave it to Rikku with a sarcastic smile. Rikku grinned sincerely back, took it and unfolded it.

_We need to talk._

Rikku just stared blindly at it and the small heart that was at the end of the sentence. She felt her pulse quicken and stop at the same time. She looked back at him, but he was busy drawing very erotic stick figures, then drawing lines from them that said "Baralai" and "Paine". He then folded it up and flicked it at Baralai, it landing neatly in his desk. Gippal considered paper throwing an art. Baralai unfolded it and sneered at Gippal before turning back to his homework. Gippal started drawing new things with a proud smirk. Rikku finished her homework and proceeded to text silently with Yuna.

The period finally ended. Rikku sighed and started walking out the door and didn't get by when Gippal grabbed her arm and pulled her into a corner. She smiled at him.

"What's up?" she asked as happily as she could. He leaned against the wall after he shifted his backpack.

"Um…" he started. "We have a problem. And it's not me. It's you." He said, looking completely solemn. Rikku just stared at him until he continued. "You see… my teachers don't believe that it's my parents signing my tests. We're gonna have to work on that." Rikku thought she was hallucinating for a minute. Then it dawned on her on what he said.

"You mean… ARGH! JERK OFF!" she yelled, smacking him nice and hard on the arm. He stared at her in astonishment as he rubbed his arm.

"What?!" he asked.

"I thought you were gonna… never mind. Let's go. I want a ride home." She said, quickly forgetting about it all.

"I always give you a ride home." He said with a smirk. She smiled back at him as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Why don't we round up the crew and go to the beach today?" he asked. She nodded, not really listening. Highschool.

_...Fin…_

**This is Ginny, signing out.**


End file.
